As we have taken stock of our past year in the previous article, it is time to look forth to the new year. Ps Samuel Lee encourages to look forward with a refreshed perspective.
Isaiah 43:18-19 “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”
“Keep your eyes on the road! Focus on where you’re going!” … As I was learning how to drive, this was the constant reminder that the instructor always barked at me. The concept was a simple but important one: I needed to look forward in order to move forward.
I believe that this was the same fundamental message God was giving to the Israelites in Isaiah 43:18-19. God was reminding them to look forward to the new thing that he was about to do among them as they returned from a long exile, so that they could move forward.
And this was particularly important, because it seems that the Israelites were tempted to look back rather than look forward. God was realigning their focus and reminding them not to focus on things of the past, but to look ahead to the future that he has in store for them.
That’s not to say that the past wasn’t important. The past gives us perspective. Even when driving, I have to occasionally glance at the rear-view mirror to gain a good perspective of my surroundings. In fact, in the two preceding verses before this passage, God was invoking imagery and memories of the Red Sea crossing in Exodus to remind the Israelites of who he is.
However, his message was still clear and firm: “stop thinking about those old things, or else you’re going to miss the new things that I am about to do!” No one moves forward by looking backward!
And as we stand at the start of the new year, I believe that this is the same message we need to internalize as we look forward to 2024. If we want to move forward, we need to look forward!
There will certainly be many reasons to look back. We can look back at the last few years and thank God for what he has done, sustaining us through a pandemic and a major disruption of our lives. Or maybe we are tempted to look even further beyond that and lament how things used to be before the pandemic, dwelling in our past glories and thinking to ourselves, “if only things could go back to how they were used to!”
Instead of doing that, I want to encourage us to look ahead to 2024 with a different perspective: God’s perspective. Let’s look forward and see the upcoming year through God’s eyes, filled with hope, expectation and faith towards what God has for us in the year ahead. Let’s not miss out on what God wants to do in the upcoming future because we were too caught up in the past. We need to look forward in order to move forward.
I’d like to invite us to ponder over the following questions:
1) What is the perspective that we are carrying as we move into the new year? Is it one of hope, expectation and faith?
2) Are there things of the past that we need to let go of that may be presently hindering us from seeing what God wants to do in the future?
May God, the giver of hope and the lifter of our heads, help us all to look forward to 2024 through his perspective, and excite us for what is to come. Amen!
Ps Samuel Lee has been serving the Lord full time since 2017. He leads the English congregation in Blessed Grace Church. He is passionate about teaching, leading worship, and seeing people’s lives change for the better. He is married to Yee Suen, who is also serving full time as the Children Ministry Lead. Together, they have a son, Ebenezer. In his free time, he enjoys playing with his baby boy, going cafe hopping with his wife, and playing music.
